Taco Stuffed Potatoes

These Taco Stuffed Potatoes combine your favorite flavors from tacos and baked potatoes for a rich, hearty meal the whole family loves- with lots of hidden veggies!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Quick good Taco Stuffed Potatoes

While at the recent retreat in Breckenridge Colorado, we got to eat a ton of good food. One night, our friends Katrina from In Katrina's Kitchen and Erin from Dinners Dishes and Desserts treated us to a make your own stuffed potato night and displayed tons and tons of toppings for baked potatoes- giving us the idea to take it a step further and come up with a recipe for stuffed baked potatoes our family would love that were also loaded with tons of hidden veggies.

These potatoes are decadent and good- and so easy to make- and you'd never know there is a whole eggplant and a zucchini hidden inside the taco meat mixture! We love to “hide” veggies in our meals- it provides more nutrients for our kids (who are OK about trying new vegetables but aren't lining up for broccoli or anything), and it helps stretch the filling for a huge batch.

How to make Taco Stuffed Potatoes

First assemble the following ingredients:

• Potatoes – We prefer Russett potatoes for this recipe since they have a strong skin.
• Ground beef – ground beef is the solid protein for tacos. You can use shredded chicken if you prefer. We like the taste of beef with potato.
• Eggplant, Zucchini, Bell pepperand Onion – these vegetables cook well and are a great way to sneak in some veggies. You can use all of them or the ones you prefer.
• Sea Salt and Black Pepper – salt and pepper season the vegetables and the potatoes.
• Garlic powder, Cumin, Chili powder, Smoked paprika, Cayenne pepper – this combination of spices will give you a strong taco taste. You can use a premixed Taco seasoning blend if you prefer.
• Sharp cheddar cheese – sharp cheddar cheese is suited to getting a cheesy crunchy top to your stuffed potatoes.
• Tomato and Green onions – tomatoes and green onions are the solid fresh garnish to finish off these taco stuffed potatoes.

Once you have assembled the ingredients use the following method

Bake the potatoes. Bake the potatoes in the oven at 400 degrees fir about 40 minutes or until soft.

Make the filling. Heat a pan on medium high and brown the beef. Toss in the vegetables and cook until vegetables are soft and browned. Add the salt, pepper, and spices. Add some extra water if necessary to coat the mix in the spices.

Prep the boats. When potatoes are finished baking and cooled cut in half. Scoop the softened potato out from the inside and mix it with the filling. Season the potato skins with salt and pepper. Add the taco filling to the boats, mounding and pressing to fill. Top with cheese.

Bake and enjoy. Place the taco stuffed potatoes back in the oven for about 5 minutes until the cheese is melted. Top with green onions and tomatoes and enjoy!

Kitchen notes

Crisp up the potato boats. If you want extra crispy potato skins, you can spread a little olive oil and salt and pepper on the potato boats after you have hollowed them out then bake them empty for about 10 minutes before filling them with the taco mixture.

Make it vegan. You can easily make these vegan by swapping the ground beef for black beans.

A few answers

How do we keep leftovers?

Leftovers can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat potatoes in the microwave or the oven for the best result.

Will this work with other types of potatoes?

You can use red, yellow, or even sweet potatoes for this recipe with a similar result.

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Taco Stuffed Potatoes Recipe

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Ingredients

• 6 washed Russett potatoes, stabbed with a knife a few times to vent steam
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 large eggplant, skinned and diced into small bits
• 1 large zucchini, diced finely
• 1 large onion, diced finely
• 2 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste
• ½ tsp fresh cracked black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1 large bell pepper, diced
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 large tomato, diced, as garnish
• green onions, diced, as garnish

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Bake potatoes 40 minutes, or until soft.
3. While potatoes are baking, brown ground beef in a large pan.
4. Add in vegetables.
5. Cook vegetables and meat until veggies are soft and browned.
6. Add in salt, pepper, and spices- if there isn't enough liquid from cooking off the vegetables, add up to 3 tbsp of water to help spices mix with meat and veggies. Remove mixture from the heat.
7. When potatoes are finished baking and slightly cooled, cut in half.
8. Scoop the soft potato interior out with a spoon and mix it into the taco mixture. You want to create little "boats" out of the potato skin. Season the potato skins with salt and pepper.
9. Add taco meat and veggie filling to the potato boats, mounding and pressing to fill.
10. Top with cheese.
11. Place back in oven to melt cheese, about 5 minutes.
12. Top with green onions and tomatoes, enjoy warm!